The Forgotten Colony, The Maiden's Flight
by Sikon
Summary: A Doctor Who crossover, set one year after Zwei, featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha.
1. Chapter 0,5

_This story takes place during the 2007 (third) season, with the Tenth Doctor and Martha. Assume that it takes place between "Evolution of the Daleks" and "The Lazarus Experiment"._

_It is intended to be an imaginary Doctor Who "two-parter" showcasing the setting of Mai-Otome to a potentially unfamiliar viewer, so there will be some redundant descriptions of characters and things that Mai-Otome fans are already familiar with. Despite being a **two**-parter (in the new series sense), it is split into **four** chapters for your convenience, hence the unusual numbering._

* * *

**Chapter 0.5**

A woman with long, flowing black hair stood in an arms-behind-back pose looking into a large picture window, which revealed an immense cityscape beyond it. The woman was wearing a knee-long blue coat with an ornate white-and-yellow collar, which she kept unbuttoned, as well as skin-tight black breeches and a somewhat revealing white shirt.

She was standing behind a metal desk, almost devoid of any items except for an iron, a clay figurine of a maid, a remote control, and an empty cup, in what appeared to be an office room. A flat TV set was mounted on the opposite wall.

The door opened, and two more women came in. One of them had short, wavy dark brown hair and wore a lab coat, and was holding a notebook and pencil. The other had light brown shoulder-length hair and wore a knee-long light blue dress, with a white tabard bearing the same yellow insignia as the black-haired woman's collar; she was holding a teapot.

"Thanks for the tea, Shizuru," said the woman looking into the window without turning her head.

"How did you know, Natsuki?" asked Shizuru, approaching the table and pouring tea into the cup.

"I have yet to see you coming in _without_ bringing tea; and it couldn't be Yohko alone, you wouldn't let her."

"This time, it was Yohko's initiative," smiled Shizuru. She insisted that I would come with her and relieve you of your illness."

"I'm fine," asserted Natsuki defensively.

"Well, Headmaster..." started Yohko. "You have all symptoms of physical and emotional weariness, and we have wondered if — "

"I'm fine," repeated Natsuki. "It is not so much me as this... show that is still going on, despite my best efforts. The child-queen is realizing the extent of the power she has, but she and her child-Meisters are still idealists at heart; and with such attitudes, the entire SOLT program may derail."

She sat down turned the TV on; the other two came closer and turned to the screen."

_"...And at this moment, the citizens of Windbloom rejoice as their beloved Queen, Mashiro Blan de Windbloom, returns from her visit to Florince. This is a live transmission from Sandport; we can now see the nobles watching in awe as Her Highness descends in glory from the royal sandcleaver, accompanied by her Meister Otome, Arika Sayers and Nina Wáng..."_

The feed, with an obligatory "LIVE" in the corner and shaking camera, showed a teenage queen, with her hair dyed lavender, in over-the-top fancy clothing, pompously walking down a ladder, accompanied by two girls of her age in dresses similar to Shizuru's in design.

Natsuki grimaced. "Tastes like diabetes."

A phone rang; with the words "Oh, not again..." and an expression of annoyance, Natsuki bashed the desk with a fist and took an old-fashioned, early 90s style, mobile phone out of a pocket.

"Garderobe Academy. Natsuki Kruger speaking. Can I help you?" she said in a put-on polite tone. "Yes. What?" Her expression changed instantly to a mix of surprise and horror. "What doctor?"

* * *

**DOCTOR WHO  
"The Forgotten Colony"**

"...and now..." continued the Doctor, heading for the exit from the TARDIS, "as I promised, Paris, the 27th century, the era of unity, prosperity and light-heartedness! And you'll witness it with your own eyes, just behind this door..." He opened one of the TARDIS doors without looking outside. "Voila!"

Martha smiled. "Doctor... it doesn't look like Paris at all."

The Doctor turned around. His eyes opened wide... He ran out of the TARDIS, then, in about five seconds, ran back in, grabbed Martha's arm and pulled her out.

The TARDIS was standing on a rough rocky road passing through a conifer forest. Not very far away, they could see a large Byzantine castle rising above a cityscape behind it, with three towers visible from their location.

"Definitely not..." added Martha.

"A-ha, but that's exactly what wonders me!" exclaimed the Doctor. "The year is twenty-six seventy, there can be no doubt about that. But by this time, no Earth city looked like this. Unless we are on a different planet..."

"Or in a parallel universe?" conjectured Martha. "I remember, you told me about the other universe, where Rose is trapped... with the Cybermen... zeppelins in the sky..."

The Doctor shook his head. "The Void has been closed. The TARDIS can no longer leave this universe, even by chance — and if it did, it would be dead and motionless. No, no, there's something else here. It's another planet... Look at the moon!"

Martha looked up. It was daylight, but the moon was clearly visible; it looked exactly like Earth's moon, except for a dark blue star to the bottom-left of it.

"Blue star..." said Martha.

"Exactly!" The Doctor clapped excitedly. "Artificial satellite. Of the moon. But on Earth of this time period, there are supposed to be seven of them, encircling the moon. But there's only one. And the moon, even the surface pattern is identical to Earth's moon. So..."

"So?"

"Well, it seems this planet is inhabited..." continued the Doctor, "So, instead of wasting time on taking probes of air, soil and whatnot, we can simply ask the inhabitants. Blimey, first thing I want to do is to find out how they look like!"

"They... well, judging by the buildings and..." Martha looked around; suddenly, something caught her attention, and she ran in the direction opposite to the one the Doctor was looking in. "Doctor!" she shouted.

"Well, the bark looks like..." mumbled the Doctor, touching a tree. "What?" he asked, turning in Martha's direction, and as he did, his expression changed to that of wild amazement, which his tenth incarnation displayed oh-so-often.

Martha was standing on her knees over the body of a girl about her own age; she had a round head, chin-length straight brown hair, and eyes of the same color, and had a short white skirt with a tabard similar to Shizuru's, long white gloves, and grey tights. She had a jewel-earring on her left ear, like Natsuki and Shizuru, except her gemstone was missing. Her right hand was clenched in a fist.

"They look like us, Doctor," stated Martha. "And... and she's dead."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, no, no!"

"What?"

"We're on an unknown planet, and the last thing I want is the TARDIS parked at a murder scene." explained the Doctor. "But before we leave this place, I'm absolutely bound to do this..."

He crouched and unclenched the dead girl's fist. She was holding two small, identical blue gemstones, not unlike those found in Natsuki's and Shizuru's earrings. The Doctor tried to bite one, then licked it, then drew out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the gems with it. Finally, he handed them to Martha, who put them in a pocket.

"What are they?" asked Martha.

"Transmitters. Communication devices. A strong signal between themselves, and a very weak one that I couldn't trace. Also a holographic memory module... But this kind of technology became obsolete on Earth in the twenty-fourth century, what is it doing here and now? Unless it's straight out of a museum..."

"Well, everything around here looks horribly outdated..." noted Martha. "Like... like this van."

A military van appeared at a road turn, rapidly approaching them. The Doctor and Martha jumped out of the way. The van stopped by the TARDIS, a squad of soldiers jumped out and, shouting something unintelligible, surrounded the Doctor and Martha, separating them from the TARDIS.

"Uhm, hello!.." The Doctor stared at one soldier, then at another, then at the van, then at the TARDIS; finally, he reached Martha's ear and whispered. "Psychic paper. Show it." Martha obeyed.

"As you can see," said the Doctor loudly, "this is Martha Jones, a private detective. I'm the Doctor, and I'm just an eyewitness Miss Jones happened to be questioning. She is now on her way to the city," he winked to Martha, "to report the information she gathered. Meanwhile, you can question me."

"What's the meaning of this?" whispered Martha.

"I can't bluff the way out for both of us, so while I'm captured, it's you who'll have to do the research. Find out anything you can about her and this place."

"All right," decided Martha, turning to the soldiers. "Tell me more about the victim," she added, advancing towards the dead body with the soldiers making way for her; after approaching the body, she looked back to see the Doctor being dragged away into the woods.

"You must be kidding, right?" responded the squad's medic inspecting the body. "How can you not know Meister Akane Soir?"

"Meister?" repeated Martha.

This question, apparently, got everyone around puzzled.

"Show your identification again, please," asked the commander, who had the distinction of being the only one to wear insignia of any sort. Martha opened the psychic paper.

"Ah! Good old Zipang, I should have guessed." He forcibly shook her hand, leaving her confused. "I admit, I imagined you people less black and more narrow-eyed... Maybe you could stay here and tell us more about your country?"

Martha stepped back. "I'm sorry, but I... it's an urgent case, so I shouldn't really be here. I should get to the... hotel in the city and... look at the data I gathered here. So..."

"Guys!" exclaimed the commander, pointing at the van. "Give the lady a ride. Then return here. We still have some special guests to greet."

* * *

"So, what's a Meister?" inquired Martha, adjusting her earrings while looking in the rear-view mirror.

"Well..." the driver laughed. "I knew the Zipangians were clueless about Otome, but to _such_ an extent... Just whose murder did you think you were investigating, exactly?"

"I wasn't sure," answered Martha. "I just stumbled upon the body by accident, and I had no idea who she was..."

"Well, basically, Meisters are how we call graduate Otome, the best Garderobe can offer — warriors who fight at the side of country rulers. Poor Meister Soir, may she rest in peace, served His Majesty, Kazuya Krau-xeku, since... oh, what a time it was..."

"You mentioned Garderobe, what is it?" asked Martha innocently.

"Just what kind of desert island you came from? It's an academy, a training ground for Otome — "

"How far away?"

"Well, it's in Windbloom, so... I'd say an hour by sandcleaver, though it depends — "

"Is that a train station?" suddenly interrupted him Martha. "I — I think I'll get to the hotel from here. Thanks for the lift."

"What a strange lady..." murmured the driver, as she got out of the van and closed the door without looking back.

Martha waited for the van to drive away, took out her cellphone and ensured it had reception, and started firmly climbing the stairs leading to the train station.

"Otome, he said?.."

* * *

"...And then I said, 'I'm still within the first 15 hours of my regeneration cycle, which means I have just enough residual cellular energy to do this!' And I grew my hand back," narrated the Doctor as the soldiers laughed in unison, "and the Sycorax leader was caught off-guard, and in shock, he said, 'Witchcraft!' and I said, 'Time Lord!' and she threw me another sword, and we resumed fight, until — "

His speech was suddenly interrupted as Natsuki and Shizuru walked into the tent. "Hey, who invited _them_ to the party?" he asked, irritated.

"It's a law," explained the commander. "All Otome-related matters must be resolved in the presence of official representatives of Garderobe."

"Oh, really?" questioned the Doctor sarcastically. "What's Garderobe, another shadowy men-in-black agency? Like Torchwood?" He eyed Natsuki, as Shizuru walked quietly out of his view. "Or, I guess, women-in-blue agency. "Who are you, anyway?"

The commander cowered. "This is Natsuki Kruger, Headmaster of Garderobe."

"Headmaster?" The Doctor put his hands in pockets. "Since when do secret agencies have headmasters? Since when do headmasters have secret agencies? It sounds more like a school title."

Natsuki coughed with an obvious expression of annoyance, but regained control over herself. "Please listen, Doctor no-name, if you really want to cooperate on the murder of Meister Akane, you can start by stating _your_ name."

The Doctor searched his pockets for something, then, with an expression of concern, took his hands out. "I prefer to be referred to as the Doctor... but if I absolutely must state a name, let it be... _John Smith_."

This name had the effect of an exploded bomb. The soldiers suddenly stopped chatting between themselves, got up and pointed their rifles at the Doctor. Natsuki made a gesture telling them to lower the weapons, which they did; then she made one step in the Doctor's direction and combed back the hair covering her left ear. The gem in her earring began to glow, and then she spoke a single word.

"Materialise."

_To be continued._


	2. Chapter 1

The transformation seemed instantaneous — but with his Time Lord reaction, the Doctor managed to catch some details: a translucent silhouette of Natsuki separated from her real body, a fancy powered suit materialized around it, and then the two bodies merged back, replacing Natsuki's original clothing with the suit.

"Oh-ho-ho!" exclaimed the Doctor, amused. "Guided subspace arsenal, I haven't seen this technology for years! I heard about such developments on Earth, in the late twenty-third century, but they never caught on for some reason. And here it is, this lost technology, on this anachronistic colony! What planet is this, anyway?"

"Put down your weapons," suddenly said Natsuki, turning to the soldiers. "Shizuru, you too — don't come from behind," (the Doctor, worried, immediately looked around, to see Shizuru sneaking behind him) "and Mr. Smith... stop feigning ignorance. Resistance is futile."

"Feigning?" repeated the Doctor, taking out the sonic screwdriver. "I'm not feigning ignorance, I'm really that ignorant. I'm absolutely ignorant about what planet I'm on or what you are, or who entrusted you with this authority and these fancy devices, or what else they can do — but I do know that you're wrong about the resistance part. No matter how many more functions there are, subspace control is subspace control, so if I did this — "

In one rapid move, he leaned towards Natsuki and held the sonic screwdriver against her earring. With a beeping sound, the powered suit disappeared as a ghostly outline of Natsuki wearing it detached from her and dissipated behind her, leaving her in the original clothes.

_N.K DISCONNECTED F.H  
ICE SILVER CRYSTAL  
EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN — ROBE MALFUNCTION_

"Hmm, interesting..." mumbled the Doctor. "'N.K' is you. Natsuki Kruger. 'Robe', I presume, refers to the shiny suit you just summoned. 'Ice Silver Crystal' is the jewel. But who's this 'F.H'? Your boss? A computer? Judging by the state of — "

"This does it," said Natsuki firmly. "You are dismissed," she ordered to the soldiers. "Under Article 4 of the Otome Non-Proliferation Treaty, I invoke the right to have this case delegated to Garderobe. It's none of your business now."

As Shizuru graciously, without effort, locked the Doctor's hands with handcuffs and took away his sonic screwdriver, the soldiers put on their backpacks and left the tent, leaving the two women face to face with the Time Lord.

"As for you, Mr. Smith," continued Natsuki, "You are under arrest as a suspect in the Akane Soir murder investigation, as well as for your previous crimes against Garderobe, the sovereignty of Windbloom and the world order."

"Previous crimes?" asked the Doctor in surprise. "You must have confused me with someone else. I've just got to this world by accident, so I couldn't have had any previous involvement with it."

Shizuru touched Natsuki's shoulder. "Natsuki, he can't be Smith. Smith is blond and round-faced, and this man looks completely different."

"If you're not John Smith of Schwartz, then what _is_ your name?" asked Natsuki.

"I told you before, I'm the Doctor, that's the only name you need to know. And since I wasn't born on this planet, it doesn't matter."

"So..." Natsuki came closer. "You're a space traveller?"

"Space and _time_ traveller," corrected the Doctor. "My last stop was nineteen-thirty AD, New York City, Earth. Ever heard of it?"

"Earth?!" exclaimed both women.

"A-ha! So it does ring a bell." The Doctor rubbed his palms. "In what way? Is it... something of legend, or do you still maintain contact with it? Although judging by the aesthetics of your society, the latter is unlikely.

"First things first," cut off Natsuki impatiently. "How exactly did you arrive here? Where is your space-time travel... device?"

* * *

"This... box?" uttered Natsuki in disgusted disbelief, looking at the TARDIS. "What's a police public call box?"

"It's history," said the Doctor grimly. "And this is just a disguise. It's bigger and more advanced on the inside."

"And you travelled to Earth in this machine?" asked Natsuki.

"To Earth and to lots other places. But why do you ask about Earth in particular?"

"None of your business," Natsuki said grimly.

She took out a cellphone-like device and dialed a number. "Yohko, tell Nao to head for my current coordinates. It's a murder investigation, per Article 4. Akane Soir. What do you mean he lives? No, I don't know, tell Nao to check her blood. It should be handled as discreetly as possible, the meeting is our chance — I don't want it cancelled at such a crucial moment just because some stupid Meister didn't look both sides when crossing a road."

Shizuru, who was standing there turned away from the TARDIS with eyes closed, suddenly intervened in the conversation. "Earth is our ancient homeworld. This planet, Earl, was colonized by immigrants from Earth, but three hundred years ago, all contact with it inexplicably ceased, and that was the beginning of the War of the Twelve Kings — when the rulers of old were left on their own, without a higher power to restrain them."

Natsuki stared at Shizuru with wild eyes. "Where do you know all this from?!"

"Unlike _someone_ I know, I never slept on Miss Maria's history lessons," smiled Shizuru. "And," she continued, addressing the Doctor, "Earth is particularly sacred to us Otome, as it is the source of the forbidden knowledge that Garderobe protects, including the technology powering the Otome."

"Hang on..." said the Doctor, nodding in the direction of Akane's body, still lying on the road in plain sight. "You mean the earrings? And the Robes? I noticed she had an earring, like you two. Was she also part of this... Garderobe agency?"

"Akane was a Meister," answered Natsuki with slight sorrow. "And Garderobe is not an agency — is a school that trains Otome, and I am its current headmaster. Akane attended it, like we did, but when a student becomes a Meister, her loyalties from this moment belong to her master, not Garderobe — so in a sense, you can say that she was no longer part of it."

"And her master was...?" continued the Doctor.

"Kazuya Krau-xeku, the King of Cardair," replied Natsuki.

"And yours?"

"We are the Five Columns," said Natsuki in a casual tone. "I'm Natsuki Kruger, number two, and this is Shizuru Viola, number three. We have no master but Garderobe itself, and our mission is to defend the Otome system."

The Doctor grinned. "Ah, the good old paradox: who watches the watchers?"

"Explain yourself."

"Well, the way I understand it..." the Doctor tried to move his arms apart, only to remember that he was still restrained by the handcuffs, "if you control everything, including the potential candidates, and you have the same abilities as they while having no real allegiance to any country, then one day the five of you could get bored with the world order and conspire and invade someone, especially if they don't have Otome. Just for reference, how powerful are they?"

Without listening to him, Natsuki and Shizuru nodded to each other and summoned their Robes with a simultaneous shout of "Materialise". Shizuru then grabbed the Doctor and lifted him in the air, and Natsuki lifted the TARDIS as easily as if it was a balloon. Both took off, flying in the direction of the city.

"So, this is the raw power, or at least its lower limit..." continued the Doctor. "So, with five of you, plus all the students... Wait! Where are you taking my TARDIS? And most importantly, where are you taking _me_?"

"To Garderobe, where we'll have it studied, among with the other lost technological mysteries. And we could use your expertise to get a full understanding of the Robes and the nanomachines, and possibly even to obsolete the Fumi System."

"Wait, wait, wait..." The Doctor once again turned wild-eyed. "Are you telling me that you're using this subspace arsenal system without completely understanding how it works?"

Natsuki nodded. "For now, it just works, and this is all we need to use the Otome system in political regulations."

"You never know," countered the Doctor. "If it's a black box to you, it could have some weaknesses you don't know about — and it would be even worse if these weaknesses were there by design and could be used against you by those who _do_ understand its inner workings."

These words seemed to have evaporated some of Natsuki's self-confidence. "Well, now that we have you and access to Earth with your machine, we can hope to resolve these issues quickly."

"What if I refuse?"

"You will only be Garderobe's guest as long as you agree to cooperate," explained Natsuki. "If not... then you murdered Akane."

"I didn't," said the Doctor sharply.

"Of course you didn't. But that's what we'll say," clarified Natsuki.

"I understand. I'll help you on one condition: if you keep any archives sealed away from the public, I want complete access to them. They may contain something of personal interest to me, as an explorer."

Natsuki smiled enigmatically. "It's a deal."

They were now flying above a port of some kind on the farther outskirts of the city. Instead of regular ships, it served ship-like vehicles moving through a desert, which began just outside the city and stretched into the horizon. Natsuki landed on one of the idle vehicles, apparently ready for departure, and secured the TARDIS on its upper deck. Shizuru followed suit, still holding the Doctor tightly.

"Where are we?" asked the Doctor.

"It's the local sand port," explained Natsuki. "Wind City is surrounded by a desert, and it's too far for me to carry the TARDIS all by myself — which is why we'll have it delivered by sandcleaver."

"We used to be told that this area was once lush and beautiful," added Shizuru, "but the Windbloom Desert was created by the weapons used in the War of the Twelve Kings. And we would be grateful if you could decipher the records about this subject, Doctor Two-Hearts."

"Just the Doctor. Poetic epithets not necessary."

* * *

"Passengers of the _Four-Dot Ellipsis, _we are now arriving at the destination. The temperature in Wind City is 25 degrees centigrade. Please do not attempt to disembark from the vessel until it is fully docked. Please do not forget your possessions aboard; if you spot any items left behind by other passengers, report your sightings to the captain. Thank you, and have a nice day."

Martha stood up, preparing to leave the sandcleaver.

A few minutes later, she was entering a train at a train station, holding a ticket with the words "Sandport — Windbloom" printed on it. When the train departed, Martha looked out of the window, observing the city as the train was crossing it.

It had a surprisingly contemporary look — the look of more traditional and sparsely populated cities, untouched yet by the skyscraper plague. The only things that reminded of the fact that it was the 27th century were holographic advertisements and giant television screens on the streets — and in contrast with them, the medieval castle far way seemed even more anachronistic than it would be in a 21st century city.

After exiting on another train station, Martha looked around for random passers-by and picked a respectable old man in an old-fashioned jacket and fedora. "Excuse me... how do I get to Garderobe Academy?"

The old man smiled. "Why, it's that way," he pointed at the nearby hill, paved with a long stairway leading to a white one-story building with a big attachment on the top that resembled a folding fan in shape. "But what did you forget there? Are you another one of those fangirls who dream of becoming Otome?"

"N-no..." The old man's words got Martha somewhat confused. "I have no intent to become an Otome. From what I heard, it's a rather... dangerous profession. Deadly, even. And I just want to look at the live ones."

* * *

Yohko, the Garderobe scientist, was standing in front of a computer screen in a dimly-lit laboratory, making some notes with a pen in her notebook. She had two visible assistants: one of them was a red-haired teenage girl in glasses, the other one was a robot-like creature with a spherical head (with an X-shaped mark for face), with two long hoses protruding from the ear-plugs and a yellow ring above the head.

"Someone is knocking," reported the creature.

"Are you sure?" asked Yohko. "I can't hear anything."

"My hearing is better than that of any human. Someone is definitely knocking in the front door. Should I check it out?"

"No," said Yohko, "I'll do it myself."

She went out of the lab, climbed some stairs and opened the front door — to see Martha standing there. "Er. Hello, I guess," said the guest.

"Who are you, and how did you get past the guards?" asked Yohko, staring at her as if she saw a ghost.

"The guards let me pass because I was invited here. See?" said Martha, flashing the psychic paper.

"I see now!" exclaimed Yohko happily. "So _you _were the nanomachine test subject the Headmaster was talking about. Come in, everything has been prepared for the experiment."

"Eh?" uttered Martha, but quickly regained control of herself. "Yes, I was invited as a test subject," she continued, coming in and following Yohko to the lab, "although it was just an excuse to get in touch with the Otome culture. Speaking of which..." Martha looked around. "If this is an academy, where are all the students?"

"The students and teachers are all away in Aries, taking a survival test," explained Yohko. "Which is actually a relief for me, as it allows my work to continue uninterrupted. Here," she said, pointing at the two assistants, "This is Irina Woods, a former Garderobe student, and this is Professor Gal from Aswad, a nation interested in some of our technology. And your name is?.."

"Martha Jones."

"Martha Jones," repeated Yohko. "All right, I should input your name into the database while I still remember to," she continued, typing the name on a keyboard, "and then we'll move on to the experiment."

"Tell me, please," asked Martha, "what exactly will the experiment consist of?"

"You'll be injected with a new experimental brand of nanomachines that should no longer cause the initial three-day coma, and then see how well your organism adapts to them."

"One clarification," interrupted Martha. "Are those the same nanomachines that power the Otome?"

"Absolutely. But you will not have the option to become one — it's part of the legal agreement. When the test is complete, you'll be administered a protein solution that will dissolve the nanomachines within you, as well as block any future attempts to be injected with them again."

* * *

"So, Doctor?" asked Natsuki, assuming a comfortable pose in her office chair. "You've had an hour to study the Garderobe archives. Is there anything you could already share?"

"The Otome nanomachines and Robes are human technology," said the Doctor. "But they're reverse-engineered from even older technology, which was developed by a certain other species — I once learned that one of them had lived in refuge on Earth for millennia, and even cooperated with a renegade Time Lord, but before I could intervene, the humans somehow took care of it themselves. The Kokuyouseki also designed Yuna, the planetary destruction entity that attacked you a year ago — it was just a study, a warm-up before a real attempt at an invasion, which will inevitably follow."

"How soon?"

"Well..." stumbled the Doctor. "Is there some big event planned for the future? Something involving the Otome?"

"The final SOLT negotiation is to begin in this city, in Fuka Castle, in about an hour," said Natsuki. "SOLT stands for Strategic Otome Limitation Talks. I'll be presiding, and the fate of the Otome system will be decided there."

"I guess that is your answer," smiled the Doctor.

"What?"

Just as Natsuki spoke that, her phone rang.

"Yohko? No, don't panic... I'll enable hands-free mode," she turned to the Doctor, "for your benefit."

"An unknown flying object has just entered the atmosphere!" shouted Yohko through the phone. "It's flying at an astonishing speed, even faster than the asteroid last time! It's heading... Oh no. It's heading towards Windbloom! Here!"

"Understood," acknowledged Natsuki. "Plug me to the public address system."

"Done," reported Yohko.

"Garderobe, Natsuki Kruger speaking! Air raid on Windbloom! To all Otome-masters: give certifications immediately! This is not a drill!"

"Natsuki..." said Yohko in a completely lost tone. "I hate to say it, but... the room with the Meisters has just disappeared... along with all of them."

"They've been teleported away," stated the Doctor, "to where they won't be an issue."

"Doctor!" shouted Martha through the phone.

"Martha! What are you doing there?"

"The situation is worse than that," said Natsuki. "Except for us Five Columns, and for the Garderobe teachers, an Otome requires a certification from her master to unlock her powers. And with the Otome separated from their masters, they are now effectively useless."

"In this case, Natsuki..." proposed Shizuru, entering the office, "countering this invasion is up to us."

"There is another," said Yohko through the phone.

Natsuki slapped her forehead in frustration. "Oh, you're not talking about..."

"Meister Mai Tokiha is on her way."

The window in Natsuki's office suddenly shattered as a red-haired Otome in a bulky orange Robe flew in, carrying a brown-spiky-haired barbarian girl with a staff on her back. Natsuki turned away from her, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief, Shizuru just smiled, and the Doctor leaned against a wall with an expression of shock and amazement.

The red-haired Otome let the other girl climb off her back, turned around, winked in the Doctor's direction, and finally faced Natsuki.

"Did you miss me?" she asked innocently, looking through what has just been a window at a colossal alien spaceship flying towards them...

_To be continued._


	3. Chapter 1,5

**_Author's Note_****  
**

_It's been over five years since I published this story. A lot has changed — mostly myself.  
_

_Generally, I hate "pulling a George Lucas" — I've never edited my past stories on FFN before, and I'm only doing this now because I believe it's absolutely justified.  
_

_I could have rewritten the entire thing. I know I can write better than this — I'm easily embarrassed by my old writing. But I won't touch it. I only rewrote a homophobic speech that didn't sit well with readers (and for a good reason), didn't even make sense in the context of the plot, and my present self is actually appalled that my past self even could write something like that. It's for the best for everyone involved, and my conscience can be clear now.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 1.5**

Previously on _Doctor Who..._

"Voila!"

"Doctor... it doesn't look like Paris at all."

"Artificial satellite. Of the moon. But on Earth of this time period, there are supposed to be seven of them!"

"They look like us, Doctor. And... and she's dead."

"How can you not know Meister Akane Soir?"

"Meisters are how we call graduate Otome, the best Garderobe can offer — warriors who fight at the side of country rulers."

"What's Garderobe, another shadowy men-in-black agency? Like Torchwood? Who are you, anyway? Since when do secret agencies have headmasters?"

"Materialise."

"'N.K' is you. Natsuki Kruger. 'Robe', I presume, refers to the shiny suit you just summoned..."

"Wind City is surrounded by a desert, and it's too far for me to carry the TARDIS all by myself..."

"Are you another one of those fangirls who dream of becoming Otome?"

"If this is an academy, where are all the students?"

"Martha Jones. All right, I should input your name... and then we'll move on to the experiment."

"Are those the same nanomachines that power the Otome?"

"Absolutely. But you will not have the option to become one."

"An unknown flying object has just entered the atmosphere!"

"To all Otome-masters: give certifications immediately! This is not a drill!"

"The room with the Meisters has just disappeared... along with all of them."

"In this case, Natsuki... countering this invasion is up to us."

"Did you miss me?"

* * *

**DOCTOR WHO  
"The Maiden's Flight"**

"Well, Mai," noted Natsuki in a deadpan-cynical manner, "it's good to see that some things never change. The trail of debris still follows you, yet you're as carefree as ever. And you brought Mikoto here, what for? You only put her in mortal danger, and yourself by extension."

"Uh... excuse me for intervening," said the Doctor, "but is it just me, or the defining factor of success as an Otome is bosom size? Or did all the supermodel wannabes around just happen to end up as your students?"

"Estrogen level is linked to compatibility with the nanomachines, but it's far from being the only factor," commented Yohko via the comlink.

"Enough of this," interrupted Natsuki. "We shall evacuate all non-Otome personnel. This includes you, Doctor — I'll take you to safety. Gal! Take Yohko and Irina out of range."

"What about the test subject?" inquired Yohko.

"What test subject?"

"Me!" exclaimed Martha over the comlink.

"It's Martha Jones, she arrived with me in the TARDIS," explained the Doctor. "I don't know how she got here, but I'm not leaving without her."

Yohko protested. "We can't just leave her without — "

"We have no time for talking," said Natsuki. "Shizuru, at once... Materialise!"

_N.K CONNECTED F.H  
Silver Crystal MATERIALISE standing by_

_S.V CONNECTED F.H  
MATERIALISE standing by_

"Doctor, Mikoto, grab my arms," ordered Natsuki. "Gal, leave Martha at the entrance — I'll pick her up on the way out. Shizuru, Mai, take down the ship from close range while I'll provide long-range fire."

Shizuru threw the Doctor his sonic screwdriver back, and Natsuki flew out through the broken window, with the Doctor and the shaman girl brought by Mai holding her left and right arms, respectively. Outside, Gal the cyborg carried Martha, Yohko and Irina to the outside stairway and left Martha there, speeding away with the other two, despite Yohko visibly protesting. Natsuki flew close.

"Hold my legs!"

"So what if there were more of us?" asked the Doctor while Natsuki was flying away from Garderobe, in an unknown direction.

"There would generally be more of _us, _counting the students," replied the headmaster. "But this time, the SOLT coincided with the survival test for the students, who are currently far away in Aries..."

"And the invaders came because of the SOLT — makes sense to me," finished the Doctor. "There's one moment, though — why couldn't you just impose _your_ conditions? If they don't obey, you bring down the entire Otome system. Plain and simple."

"It doesn't work that way — there's no central place from which the system can be brought down," explained Natsuki, "or at least none that we know of. Garderobe was taken over once, but the worst they could do was depower _us_, the Five Columns and the students."

"Now..." the Doctor scratched his head with one hand, while holding Natsuki's arm with the other. "Now it makes sense. You've unleashed technology which you don't exactly understand and have no means of disabling... And they've hijacked most of it! And now, if they take over Garderobe... you'll be left defenseless."

Natsuki flew to a medieval castle of sorts and stopped slightly above ground in front of a white-and-yellow tower, square-shaped in section, with a ridiculously non-sequitur sunflower sculpture on top. The Doctor, Martha and Mikoto jumped onto the ground.

"It's worse... The entire planet will be left defenseless," continued the Doctor, looking around.

Garderobe was relatively far from this point, but they could still see the four buildings of which the academy complex consisted: the one with the fan-like attachment, a curvy futuristic building which housed Natsuki's office, a plain old-fashioned three-story building with a clock tower to the right of the first one, and another one, somewhat resembling the Moscow State University, to the left. The starship was floating right above them, apparently charging an energy weapon, and seemed immune to both Shizuru's whip-chain and Mai's flaming rings.

Natsuki stepped forward, and a humongous gun, about one and a half times as long as she was tall, appeared in her hands. "Load Silver Cartridge!" she shouted, pointing the gun in the direction of Garderobe and the starship.

_Ice Silver Crystal  
Howling Silver Wolf  
COUNT DOWN: III... II... I_

The gun fired an energy blast... however, the starship fired downwards at the same time. The two blasts collided and deflected each other; Natsuki's blast ruined the stairway leading to Garderobe, while the starship blast took a sizable chunk off one of the hills directly behind the complex.

"How fast does it recharge?" asked the Doctor.

"Thirty seconds," stated Natsuki.

"Looks like their takes longer. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless they have prepared multiple shots at once."

Just as the Doctor finished this phrase, Mai summoned a giant flaming ring and flew through it, accelerating to impressive speed, and hit the ship — however, this accomplished nothing. The ship, meanwhile, fired a second shot, which obliterated the building with the fan attachment, and Natsuki's Robe and weapon instantly disappeared. While Mai was unaffected, the same happened to Shizuru, who, having lost her own Robe, fell down — however, just before she hit the ground, her Robe reappeared, allowing her to land safely.

Natsuki's Robe also returned as the Doctor stared at her, not quite understanding what just happened.

_FIVE COLUMNS — II  
SURROGATE MOTHER SYSTEM OPERATION_

"What's going on with your... Robe?" asked the Doctor.

"They've taken down the Fumi System. We have a backup, but it can only operate for a few minutes. But it should be more than enough."

Natsuki summoned her gun again and fired at the ship. This time, the shot had a more significant impact: the ship lost the characteristic glow around it, and the spot Natsuki hit began to smoke.

"The shields are down!" announced the Doctor. "One more shot, and you should be done with it."

Back above Garderobe, Mai climbed onto the ship, detached a large panel and threw it away. Shizuru landed near the hole and jumped in; Mai, meanwhile, summoned the ring again and flew into the hole, producing more smoke coming out of it. That entire section was now on fire...

...But suddenly, one of the adjacent panels moved, closing the breach and apparently sealing the two Otome inside. The section, detached from the rest of the ship, apparently as an emergency measure, and became encased in a force-field bubble, which collapsed around it...

...destroying the detached section inside it... and leaving nothing behind.

Natsuki was preparing to fire, looking at the countdown attached to the gun... 3... 2... 1... Recharged. But just as she was about to pull the trigger, her earring-gem produced three rapid, low-pitched beeps...

Natsuki suddenly released the grip on her gun, which immediately vanished, and dropped on her knees, ready to start crying.

"Shizuru!"

"What... was that?" asked the Doctor. "Or are you telling me she's... dead?"

"The Third Column's contract has been broken..." murmured Natsuki in a lost voice. "It can only mean one thing. She's gone. Shizuru... is no more."

Suddenly, the Doctor heard a scream behind him, followed by a desperate "Doctor!" from Martha. He turned around to see Martha sitting on the ground with Mikoto lying on her knees, being slowly erased by green light — starting with the hands and the feet, then the limbs, then the body...

"Mai... I'm coming to you," said Mikoto, her face the last feature to dissipate in the air. Only a ring with a red jewel, similar to those in Otome earrings, was left behind on the ground.

"This is... major..." uttered the Doctor, picking up and putting on the ring. "Headmaster," he said firmly, grabbing Natsuki by the shoulders and shaking her. "A person has just disappeared for seemingly no reason, in front of my eyes. How do you explain _that_?"

"Shizuru... Shizuru..." sobbed Natsuki, virtually catatonic, without seemingly noticing the Doctor.

"Listen, I don't know, maybe Garderobe is... was a school for sensitive damsels, but you were bound to have at least _some _military training to be of any use. She was your comrade, she fell in battle — but it's not too late, get a hold of yourself! Take down that ship before it's too late!"

"You don't understand..." said Natsuki weakly. "It was... more than that."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, his face turning grim in an instant. Natsuki, too, just stood there in silence — wiping a single tear as she gazed at the empty space where her lover just was.

"Even as we were students ourselves, we knew such a moment could come," she said quietly, sadly. "An Otome's life is a great honor, but also a great sacrifice. Shizuru was devoted to her duty, as was I... hard as it was for us both to find time for our love when running the academy drained so much of our lives. And at least... as Columns, we won't needlessly take someone else's live just by dying."

"Wait, what?" The Doctor blinked. "So that red Otome..."

"The other girl with her was her master — and lover." Natsuki clenched her fist, raising, however, her head in resolve. "It's common to develop such bonds in employment... And it only hurts to realize that if you fall in battle, you'll doom someone else, too. Someone close to you. When one dies, so must the other — such is the contract."

The Doctor stamped in anger and disgust. "Humans! The one civilization living by the idea that flawless devices are useless. The idea that such a technological masterpiece can work _without_ paying some really ghastly price seems to _offend_ them at some deep psychological level."

"Doctor!" exclaimed Martha. "Akane, that dead Otome, served the king of the country we arrived in — but we found her body! She didn't disappear like this girl just did!"

"And the king also survived," said the Doctor. "Which means... the contract was not enforced for some reason. But say... yes! if her nanomachines were destroyed somehow before she was killed, she would no longer be an Otome, right, headmaster? Now that's something. We don't know _who_ killed her, but at least it explains why she died just like an ordinary person, without any of this... Hideaki-ish technology subjecting its users to the worst imaginable tortures."

"Don't tell me you knew Hideaki Anno too," Martha made a desperate attempt to smile.

"I cured him of his depression, actually," the Doctor said in a throw-away manner. "He's a nice man, really, behind this shell of angst — not quite Shakespeare, but better than most. But this isn't relevant! What _is_ relevant is that _you_, Natsuki, yes you, are responsible for all this mess because of your inaction! And now it's _your_ duty to atone for it — starting with going to the SOLT meeting and finding a way to deal with the invasion!"

"No, it's... not my duty anymore," said Natsuki quietly, taking off her earring and frustratedly shoving it into one of the Doctor's pockets. "It should have never been. I'm not worthy... and I was really just a replacement for Mai. _She_ was to become the headmaster, but she ran away from responsibility, forcing me into the position — so it's her fault!"

"And yet you didn't handle the job any better," countered the Doctor.

"Enough! Maybe you're right and I was really worthless. Just leave me alone. Go to the meeting yourself, if you must — it's going on right there in the castle! It's all for naught now anyway."

The Doctor looked at Natsuki for a few more seconds.

"Humans never learn. Once again... a so-called universal solution is only good at ruining lives." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He turned away from her and gently squeezed Martha's hand. "Let's come in."

The Doctor and Martha went — no, ran through a series of hallways, following directional signs reading "Conference Room", past several squads of guards — Martha held the psychic paper open, but most of them found the sight of the strangers so shocking that they made no attempts to stop them. When they finally reached the entrance, however, they found the entire room missing, along with its door, with the walls and the ceiling just ending there. They could see other rooms from here through the empty space where the conference room apparently used to be, but there was no sign of that room itself.

"What happened?" inquired Martha.

The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver. "The room was... beamed up, as silly as it sounds," he said. "Teleported away. I could hack that teleportation system to get us there in the same manner, but it seems to be one-way — once there, wherever it is, we I won't be able to return without finding and reprogramming the system itself."

"Just do it."

"In that case... jump!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Jump where?" asked Martha.

"Jump through where the door was! Counting down... three... two... one... go!"

They jumped, risking to land on the floor below — however, as the Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver in mid-fall, he and Martha disappeared with a flash — and reappeared standing on a table in the room that apparently used to be there.

They looked around. Sitting at the table were people in all kinds of fancy dresses, of all ages, from a girl with dyed lavender hair, about seventeen years old, to a young man with brown hair and pure blue eyes, to a grumpy, bald middle-aged man.

"Hello there," waved the Doctor. "This is the SOLT meeting, I presume? And you are all country rulers? Haven't you noticed that you aren't in the castle anymore? Or that your Otome are all missing?"

_To be concluded_


	4. Chapter 2

"First of all," said the bald old man grudgingly, "do you two have no concept of etiquette? Tables are not made for the purpose of standing on them."

"What?" burst the Doctor. Then she looked at his feet. "Ah, that! Sorry. Well, at least our legs didn't go _through_ the table — that would be inconvenient, wouldn't it, Martha? When you teleport, it's hard to predict where you appear, so," he stepped down, "I apologize, and truth be told, I think we've wasted too much time in this room already, so, now..."

As everyone turned their eyes in the Doctor's direction (including Martha, who was still standing on the table), he casually walked to the only door in sight and opened it inwards, revealing a solid metal wall right behind it.

"Uh-oh," the Doctor uttered. Pointing the sonic screwdriver at the wall, he then proclaimed, "Solid steel. At least a meter thick, maybe more. We're trapped."

Martha jumped down from the table. "Then what did you bring us here for? You had no idea where we would end up, did you?"

"I had _perfect_ idea where we would end up," replied the Doctor. "I knew we would end up in this room. What I _did_ have no idea about was what was _around_ the room, and how to get out."

"But we will get out, won't we?" asked Martha.

"We won't if they will be just sitting there staring at us like they're seeing aliens. Well, they _are_ seeing aliens, from a certain point of view, but it's not the point. If we cannot escape from here, we can possibly get help from the outside. Whose castle is this?"

"Mine," said the teenage girl with dyed hair.

"And what's your name?"

An uneasy silence ensued.

"This is Mashiro Blan de Windbloom, the Queen of Windbloom and the host of this SOLT conference. Now, who are you, and where is the headmaster?" asked, blushing, a red-haired woman in glasses, who was sitting next to her.

"She resigned. Didn't you get the memo?" responded the Doctor sarcastically. "Now, Mashiro Blan de Windbloom, let me describe the situation. Your country is undergoing an alien invasion as we speak..." He stumbled. "Obviously you don't believe me."

"Just continue, Doctor," urged Martha with slight despair.

"This room has been teleported out of its original location, and I conjecture that we may be on a spaceship. Does your country — or, for that matter, your planet — have any spaceworthy military forces?"

"Otome," said Mashiro.

"_Besides _Otome! You no longer have them!" the Doctor cried. "Wait, what? Otome are capable of space flight?"

"This is true," confirmed the balding man, "but what do you mean we no longer have them?"

"Well, do you see any Otome around here?" asked the Doctor. "I don't. Nor can any of them see any of you, much less get certification."

"There is Garderobe..." began the red-haired woman.

"Destroyed."

"Meister Mai..." inserted Mashiro.

"Dead." The Doctor held a pause. "So, as I said, Otome are not an option. Any other ideas?"

"Can you summon the TARDIS here?" asked Martha.

"Wish I could. But no, the TARDIS is buried under the ruins of Garderobe, and without someone to operate it," went the Doctor, drawing out the key to the TARDIS, "it's as useless as an Otome without someone to release her powers," he continued, showing Natsuki's earring...

...And in a moment, his hands trembled, and in one brisk move he turned towards Martha and shook her by her shoulders. She stepped back in confusion; the Doctor grabbed the sonic screwdriver and, holding it at a palm's distance from Martha, scanned her from the head to the feet.

"What... did... they... do to you?!" he shouted, exasperated.

"Nothing..." said Martha in a lost tone. "Just... nanomachines, maybe? Garderobe's scientist injected them..."

"Nanomachines? Oh, Martha Jones, don't tell me it was just out of curiosity! I got a companion expelled once when he had a microchip inserted in his forehead, do you want me to do the same to you? Well, I would, but it just happens that your curiosity may prove useful right now and here."

Martha blinked.

"Let's consider it, what makes an Otome an Otome?" continued the Doctor, walking in circles. "At their technological level, they're unlikely to have something really sophisticated besides what they already have as a given. Nanomachines are one thing. What else? The earrings, most definitely. But there must be something else... something for the masters, linking them to their respective Otome. Martha, tell me — have you noticed any feature common to all these people in front of us? I don't know..." he went on, waving his arms, "maybe a facial feature, something on their heads, hands, clothing..."

"Rings?" asked Martha.

"What?"

"Rings. They each have a ring... with a jewel. Each of a different color. Just like those worn by Otome!"

"Brilliant!" exclaimed the Doctor. "And, come to think of it, this makes sense. Each gem is likely to contact with its own counterpart only. And..." he drew out the ring he picked from the Mikoto's dissolving body, "I have one of these! I don't know why she wasn't seen wearing it — must have been inside her. Whatever, it's not important. Except the gems are different, this one is red and that one is silver. Unlikely to mesh."

"Wait a second... are you going to make me your Otome?" asked Martha.

"Why not? You're the only suitable candidate around here."

"Those two that died were trained professionals! And even they couldn't do anything with the spaceship! What do you expect _me_ to do?"

"I expect you to get us out of this room, nothing else," said the Doctor coldly. "Nobody has mentioned fighting. I, for one, would first inquire what they want and try to resolve it peacefully, if it's possible."

"All right," agreed Martha, taking a breath. "If you need two identical gems... will these do?" She searched her pockets and presented the two gemstones Akane had been holding after her death.

"Those are — " exclaimed the blue-eyed young man.

"Akane Soir. Ever heard of her?" said the Doctor, replacing the silver gem in Natsuki's earring with one of Akane's blue ones. "Anyway, Martha, it's time for you to don these metal rings and put on something more compact, like this. As for me..." He put Mikoto's ring, outfitted with the other blue gem, on his left ring finger. "Hmm, it fits. I might even keep it for a while. Now, here's a question for you, the powerless powers of this world: how is a contract forged?"

"What happened to Akane?" asked the young man in turn. "Where did you get her gems?"

"She's dead."

"Her, too?! My Otome? How? When?"

"I don't know," admitted the Doctor. "We found her already dead. I hoped that the gems would allow me to find her master, but looks like I've just found him by other means..." He smiled. "Never thought I'd have to use them _this_ way."

"And you won't!" exploded the bald man. "You have already violated _far_ too many clauses of international law, and I will not tolerate you violating any more by forging an unauthorized contract!"

"All right, fine," said Martha, enraged. "Stay here until the cows come home, if you prefer that to agreeing right now to abolish that stupid rule."

"It's simple. He should ask you for acceptance and then kiss your gem," Mashiro suddenly burst out.

"Mashiro!" cried the woman in glasses, shaking her head.

"At the very least, she should be contracted to one of us, not some total stranger!" insisted the bald man.

"Can you regenerate after near-death? No? Then shut up — if there's going to be a contract, she's much safer with me. All right," the Doctor clapped excitedly. "Martha Jones, do you accept me as your lord and master... Scratch that. Do you agree to allow me to — uh, scratch that too. Just say yes!"

"Yes... probably," replied Martha indecisively.

"In that case..." The Doctor kissed her earring. "The word is 'Materialise' — I assume they didn't tell you that."

Martha stepped forward, eyeing the rulers as if challenging them — only when her eyes met with Mashiro and Kazuya (since the blue-eyed young man was no doubt him) did her look show some signs of friendliness.

"Materialise!"

_M.J CONNECTED UNKNOWN  
ROBE.PURE HEART MALACHITE MATERIALISE standing by_

The Robe appeared; it was white, with denim blue stripes, yellow-and-black flying rings, and wide, skin-exposing cuts in the abdominal and upper chest areas. Perhaps to further drive the point home, it came with a pair of decorative cat-like ears.

"Seriously, who came up with this design?" asked Martha in a perplexed tone, looking at her exposed navel.

"Somebody with a sense of humor," answered the Doctor.

"It's not funny!" complained Martha, taking off the cat ears and throwing them away.

"And I'm not joking. Now, punch the wall — you should be able to get through it."

* * *

When a small hole appeared in the steel wall under Martha's amplified punches, she passed her arms through it and gradually widened it enough for a person to pass through. She got out; the Doctor followed.

"All of you, get out!" shouted the Doctor. "And spread out. At least one of you should find and release the Otome, if they are anywhere nearby."

The newly-made passage led to a corridor with windows in the opposite wall, revealing the scenery behind it: outer space. The Doctor and Martha came closer to one such window; for a few seconds, they silently observed the blue planet below and the sun far away.

"So, looks like we're on a spaceship, just above Earl... Magnificent, isn't it?" asked the Doctor. "Your time is still a few centuries away, but the very fact that you were able to settle on this Earth-like planet, so soon after barely learning to stand..." He turned away from the window. "Of course, you had help, with alien technology and Torchwood and all, but still it's quite remarkable."

The Doctor made a pause. "Speaking of alien technology... It makes me wonder: Otome obviously still function — you are a living proof; and the Robes are bound to have a centralized power source. If the Kokuyouseki wanted to get rid of Otome, why didn't they just destroy _that?"_

"Any idea why?" asked Martha.

"It must be of some value to them. And I don't even know what it is yet! So many questions!"

"Doctor..." said Kazuya's voice behind their backs.

"Wha...?" The Doctor made a 180 degree turn, ending up standing almost face to face with Kazuya. "First, how do you know what I'm called?"

"She called you 'Doctor'," said the young king, nodding in Martha's direction.

"Ah, yes, you sure are attentive," the Doctor started walking away, "but could you please be a little less persistent when I'm busy saving the world?"

"Doctor, regarding Akane..."

"I already told you that I don't know what happened to her."

"Yes, but I was wondering... Maybe you need help with your investigation — then Cardair is at your disposal. Anything you need. I would gladly give away the throne to find the murderer of my Otome!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I... assume you and your Otome didn't 'dance' — figuratively speaking, of course?"

Kazuya blushed, but quickly got a hold of himself. "No, we didn't. By the Guiding Star, how could you even suspect this?"

"Guiding Star!" The Doctor clicked his fingers. "That's it! Run, Martha!"

They ran across the corridor, leaving Kazuya behind in a state for which "befogged" would be a severe understatement. The Doctor stopped by a poster on the wall, apparently a schematic clearly labeled "_Deck 13_" in English.

"This 'Guiding Star' must be the power source," explained the Doctor, moving his finger through various points at the schematic. "It's ingrained in their culture, so it should be something obvious, something easily seen..."

"Doctor..." began Martha.

"And I think I can guess what it is. The blue satellite. If this planet is not Earth, and it isn't, the moon must be artificial — or a fake, like a projection, hologram, whatnot. Probably either generated or controlled by the satellite. And it also must be of crucial importance to the invaders, otherwise they'd destroy it on the spot — and I'm going to find why."

"Doctor, I'm seeing English. On an alien ship," continued Martha.

"Yes, I see it too," confirmed the Doctor, fixing his right index finger at one point on the map. "What's your point?"

"It means the TARDIS wasn't destroyed after all, was it? The universal translator..."

"Yes, well... This observation isn't of much use, I would have felt it if the TARDIS was gone, right here." The Doctor pointed at his left temple with the free left hand. "What's more important is, I've found the computer archives. See this shaft right above us? That room is right next to it, Deck 18, five floors above us — we should take this corridor to the end, turn right, bypass this magnetic lock, take the elevator upstairs, take a roundabout through the storage area, and then — "

As the Doctor spoke, Martha shrugged, embraced him from behind and took off into the air. They flew several stories upwards through the shaft and landed right in front of a double door with a sign reading "_Computer Room_".

Martha released the Doctor. "Colonel O'Neill would approve," he said, smiling and opening the door with the sonic screwdriver.

"The one where Goa'uld ships attack Earth?"

"Yes!" The Doctor looked around, studying the look of devices of strange design; going directly for the one most resembling anything remotely close to the console, he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the panel and said, "Guiding Star. Search."

* * *

"There was one Earth. When it split, there were two," Martha read from the monitor. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"Mondas. You won't understand, but they sure did their research, said the Doctor. "I'm more interested in the parts about their settlement. 'And the Guiding Star shone upon the mountains of Sun-Origin.' If it's about Earth, Sun-Origin is probably Japan, but it makes no sense. The Star is here, we saw it from below — how could its light reach Earth, and why specifically Japan?"

"Who's here?" said a disembodied voice.

The lights in the room turned off, and the door closed. A single light source on the ceiling highlighted the spot where the Doctor and Martha were standing, leaving everything around them dark. Eleven columns rose from the ground in a circle around them; they looked worn, made of material resembling stone, illuminated with an unnatural eerie glow and glittering dots scattered around their surface. Each of them was labeled in red with a number: "_01 — VOICE ONLY", "02 _—_ VOICE ONLY" _and so on, up to "_11 — VOICE ONLY"._

"A Time Lord and a human? An unusual sight, especially in these troubled times," said another voice.

"I am the Doctor. This is Martha Jones. Now, could at least one of you bother to introduce oneself and appear in a less uncanny form?"

Just as he said that, a young man in an ornate black costume, with a pendant on his neck, appeared beside the pair. His eyes were closed; as a stream of white gas flowed from column 01 to his forehead, the lights on the column went dim, and the man opened his eyes.

"As you wish," said the man.

"What's up with him? He looks human," whispered Martha. "What's with the column, is it his true form or... what?"

"The Kokuyouseki have no 'true form'," explained the Doctor. "They used to, dozens of millennia ago, but nobody knows what they looked like back then."

"But if they can possess human bodies... Could one of those... politicians be possessed? Or I?" asked Martha.

"It's a rather primitive form of psychography. They can only control bodies without conscience on their own. In this case, I don't know, the original host mind is probably stored in the pendant. The Time Lords have similar technology, but it's much more advanced."

"So the rumors do not lie," smiled the man. "As the vastness and emptiness of space are infinite, so is the Doctor in thought and worthiness."

"My worthiness aside, what is your name?"

"Ichi Hitotsu."

"That's just two different ways of saying 'one', not a name," pointed out the Doctor.

"No less of a proper name than 'the Doctor'," Ichi smiled again.

"So, if you insist on being number one, tell me, what did you forget on this insignificant little blue planet? Why did you send Yuna a year ago and now arrived yourselves? And finally, what's with your obsession with Japan?"

"The Doctor is aware of Yuna? He is well-informed," said Ichi. "Yuna was a forerunner, designed to probe their defenses and identify their weak points. We have identified one: the dependence of those they call Otome on their contracts, and their low understanding of the technology they, ultimately, stole from us."

"They didn't steal it, they reverse-engineered it," disagreed the Doctor. "They made something creative out of it, a surprisingly well-conceived political system, despite its flaws."

"We know better what is the preferred way of advance for underdeveloped cultures like theirs," said Ichi. "At the height of our Empire, the Guiding Star was installed above Sun-Origin to oversee their planet — to guide them to the point at which they would become worthy of our knowledge."

"Worthy in what aspect?" asked the Doctor. "Until they almost destroy themselves in a civil war, cause a series of worldwide catastrophes for lesser civilizations, until there's nothing left but a small bunch of disembodied refugees desperate to survive without a home?"

Ichi's face turned red, almost bursting with anger. "We have achieved the ultimate step — we are beings of pure conscience, no longer constrained to physical limit, infinitely more evolved than humans or even you Time Lords."

"Evolution doesn't work that way," said the Doctor. "There are no 'stages' — it's just adaptation. My and her species are carbon-based, but that's only because we evolved in environments arranged for such lifeforms. And you, having destroyed your homeworld, found a way to cheat evolution, forcibly adapt yourself in a process that would otherwise take millions of years. Only that doesn't mean any 'higher stage' of evolution, it was your desire to live that manifested itself in this form — as it did when you came here, through half the galaxy, on a sleeper ship, in search for the only artifact that could ensure your prolonged survival."

"We scouted Earth first, but the Guiding Star was no longer there — it was stolen by humans, used by them for their own purposes — to create these distasteful Otome, which eventually brought them nothing but more trouble. And now, it is only fair that we take back what rightfully belongs to us."

"And so you hoped to trap Otome so they wouldn't interfere when you hijack the Star," summed the Doctor. "A well-thought-out plan, except... moot, as I can show with one little click!" With a sudden move that made Martha blink, he pressed his palm against the monitor, pointed the sonic screwdriver towards the ceiling and activated it.

_EMERGENCY SECURITY OVERRIDE_

The lights went back on.

* * *

Mashiro kicked the steel wall, but with no result — it only made her foot hurt. But just as she opened her mouth to say a curse, part of the wall opened sideways, leaving a wide doorway. Behind it, Mashiro saw the two girls who had been escorting her earlier, still wearing the same Otome dresses.

"Arika! Nina!" exclaimed the young queen excitedly. "Now it's all up to you."

As the two girls kneeled before her, she kissed their earrings. "Materialise!" said both Otome at the same moment.

_A.S CONNECTED M.B.W  
ROBE.BLUE SKY SAPPHIRE MATERIALISE standing by_

_N.W CONNECTED M.B.W  
ROBE.NEPTUNE EMERALD MATERIALISE standing by_

"...As you can see, One Squared," the Doctor proclaimed, observing them through the monitor, "soon the Otome will take over this flagship, and after that, not even the smaller ones like the one you sent after Garderobe will be of any help. There are only two options for you: leave this planet alone, or destroy the Star — and render the Otome powerless."

"It is too late for them to change anything," said Ichi irritatedly. "The ship is approaching the Star. Once we retake our property for ourselves, the Otome will no longer be a problem. Ever."

He waved his hand, and the wall containing the entrance folded and disappeared, exposing the corridor outside and its picture windows.

The Guiding Star could now be clearly seen. It consisted of three metal rings positioned along three orthogonal planes, forming a spherical frame; inside it, there was a spiky organic core, blue in color and spherical in shape, surrounded by a similarly spiky black ring, which resembled a snake or serpent wrapped around the core, like Jormungand around the Earth in Norse mythology. The outer frame was connected to the core via three ortogonal metal axes, each of which touched the core, but seemingly did not pierce it. Overall, this conglomerate left the definite feeling that its parts did not mash together too well.

Ichi clicked his fingers and touched the pendant. The Doctor just stood still, watching with a stern, emotionless face.

And back in Wind City, Natsuki, now standing close to a red-haired Otome in big round sunglasses and a cap, rubbed her eyes looking as the image of the moon faded away, leaving only a lone blue star in the sky...

* * *

"Activate the tractor beam!" ordered Ichi.

_To be concluded... properly.  
Check out for the epilogue tomorrow!_


	5. Epilogue

Ichi walked out of the computer room and into the corridor, seemingly not caring about the Doctor and Martha; they followed him, but he did not look back. His eyes were focused on the Guiding Star, which was now being pulled towards the ship.

If there had been an observer outside, in space, they would have certainly been impressed by the scale and proportions: the humongous ship, more than twice as high as the Star was in diameter, pulling it into an open hatch with a force that did not visibly manifest itself.

And suddenly...

The metallic outer frame of the Star began to glow. The light spread to the axes attached to the blue core, which gradually turned red.

"What — what's happening?" asked Ichi.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, but nothing good.

Martha's gem produced a loud, unpleasant beep. Throughout the ship, the same happened to all Otome searching for their masters — as well as Arika and Nina, who had already found theirs.

"Martha! Let me look!" exclaimed the Doctor, concerned. He took out and put on his thick-framed glasses and grabbed Martha's left ear. "There are writings here," he announced. "I'll read them out loud."

_ADMINISTAR  
TRANS GLOBAL MATERIALISE SYSTEM  
DISTRESS SIGNAL  
ATTEMPTED UNAUTHORISED DISPLACEMENT_

"Unauthorised?!" exploded Ichi.

_SWITCH TO EMERGENCY MODE  
standing by... III... II... I_

_M.J CONNECTED ADMINISTAR_

Back on Earl, Natsuki watched as the red-haired Otome's Robe inexplicably activated without command, as the blue star in the sky was now red. The same happened to the Otome on the ship, except for Arika and Nina, who already had their Robes on.

_J.N.Z CONNECTED ADMINISTAR  
A.S CONNECTED ADMINISTAR  
N.W CONNECTED ADMINISTAR_

The Doctor could not see the big picture, could not know that the entire Otome system has been overridden — however, he could realize that _something_ went terribly wrong.

"Attention, all Otome," said a monotonous synthetic voice through Martha's gem. "Attempted displacement of the Administar. The Administar has now entered unrestricted mode. Materialise your personal navigators and follow their instructions."

"That's not possible..." uttered Ichi. "Cancel pull! Release the object!" he ordered, seemingly referring to nobody in particular. The order, however, was somehow obeyed; the Star stopped drifting towards the ship and instead started moving in the opposite direction, returning to its original location. The core reverted to its blue color, and the glow faded out.

_EMERGENCY MODE DISABLED_

_M.J DISCONNECTED ADMINISTAR  
M.J RECONNECTED UNKNOWN_

_A.S DISCONNECTED ADMINISTAR  
A.S RECONNECTED M.B.W_

The newly-activated Robes deactivated just as suddenly...

"That... that is not our Guiding Star," Ichi proclaimed. "It has been corrupted by the humans — to the point that it now rejects its original creators!"

"As I said, you can still destroy it," stated the Doctor.

"It's our only hope of survival."

"Ah, I bet it is!" agreed the Doctor. "A powerful solar energy converter, capable of materializing anything and everything — this should be enough to rebuild a whole civilization! Only it's not yours anymore. You should have thought twice before deciding to use it to control the human race — now they have rebelled and outfitted your gift for their own purposes. I, for one, believe this is as fair as it possibly could be."

"You're cruel, Doctor," said Martha with disapproval.

"Yes? What am I supposed to do? Within a few minutes, we'll have a swarm of disgruntful Otome trying to dismember the ship, and any attempt to hijack the Star will only make the situation worse. If the Kokuyouseki are really that willing to get rid of the Otome, they can blow up the Star and still get what they want."

"How so?" inquired Martha.

"From what I read here, the Guiding Star can slowly regenerate over centuries, even from very small shard — and Garderobe's fragmentary archives make me suspect it may have happened before. It must have been destroyed once, then regrown here — but now augmented with human technology, those rings, probably for the purposes of the Otome system."

"In other words," said Ichi, "you propose taking a shard and waiting until its regeneration finishes?"

"Exactly." The Doctor smiled.

"Unacceptable."

"Why?" asked the Doctor and Martha simultaneously.

"It is our artifact, an essential part of our culture. And we are not going to share it."

"What's the point?" exclaimed the Doctor passionately. "If you just take it away, none of you will be able to use the Star — you'll end up with two crippled civilizations instead of just one. My way, it's beneficial for everyone; you don't even need to destroy it, just take a fragment and let grow. The humans of Earl will keep this version, which they tailored for themselves, and you will have a copy of the original, purely organic version, most suitable for you."

"I require time to think about it," replied Ichi coldly.

"Doctor, maybe they don't even need to wait?" suggested Martha. "If the Star can produce anything, can it produce an original version of itself?"

"Martha! What an incredible idea!" The Doctor clapped. "Seriously, can it?" he asked, turning to Ichi.

"Yes."

"So the solution was obvious all along — let them have your own copy, let you have yours. Why didn't you think of it yourself?"

"I thought they were not worthy — and still think," said Ichi, but in a less convinced tone. "Besides, we no longer have any control over the Star. They do — whoever tampered with it."

"Just believe me. I'm a Time Lord. I've been to their far future, seen what they will become. They are a capable race with great potential — it's worth it."

"In this case, what do you propose?" queried Ichi.

"First, you bring us and all humans aboard back to the planet surface. We go to the place from which Yuna operated the Star and order it to replicate the original design. After taking it, you leave Earl and its own Star alone — and if you don't, I'll pursue and punish you. Anywhere, to the end of the universe, if needed."

"You have my word," said Ichi reluctantly.

* * *

"All right, Martha! Hold on!" shouted the Doctor, moving the sonic screwdriver from one computer screen to another.

_ADMINISTAR  
MATERIALISE: COMPLETE_

_WARNING: POWER DRAIN  
LOW POWER LEVEL _—_ ENTERING ECONOMY MODE  
ESTIMATED RECHARGE TIME: 8160 HOURS_

Martha's Robe disappeared. "Looks like it was too much strain," commented the Doctor. "Barely enough energy reserves as it stands, but we did it. And recharge... Three-hundred and forty days? That's almost a year! But better than three hundred to regrow the thing."

Back in space, Ichi watched from the ship's bridge as the duplicate Guiding Star was being pulled in; it looked almost exactly like the first one, except for the core, which was red instead of blue, and the absent outer rings. The ship made a turn and slowly flew away, leaving the other Star behind.

"And now," continued the Doctor, "let's go back to the TARDIS."

* * *

Surprisingly for such a world-shattering sight, there was almost nobody present at the ruins of Garderobe, except for the usual set of vehicles — an ambulance (what for?), a fire-engine, an excavator digging the rubble, and a crane; just as the Doctor and Martha showed up, the crane lifted the TARDIS from under the rubble and put it on the ground beside it.

Natsuki, Yohko, and the red-haired Otome appeared from behind the crane, chatting about something between themselves, but stopped upon seeing the time travellers.

"Hello again!" the Doctor waved. "How's business? Anything decided about Otome, their future, things like that?"

"From what I heard, they've decided not to rebuild Garderobe," said Natsuki. "That incident was somewhat of a shock even to the most conservative of them, it seems. The technology will be released to the public."

"What of Akane? Found anything yet?"

"Nao has brought me news about her," replied Natsuki, pointing at the red-haired Otome.

"It was easier than I thought, really," recounted Nao. "It's a bit technical. This was back when you and the headmaster and Shizuru were on your way here. I brought her to the morgue, where we found a train station name and a number written on her arm. We went to the station, opened the compartment with this number, and found a suicide note inside."

"So it was suicide, then?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes," said Natsuki. "I've read it. She was torn between her duty and her love for the king, and found no resolution. Except suicide."

"That Otome system..." The Doctor bit his lower lip. "Well, it's sort of going to be demolished now, isn't it? By the way, you have one year until the Star comes back online, and you'll have to cope without Otome until then."

He walked to the TARDIS and opened it.

"Doctor, we're going to leave? Already?" asked Martha.

"Yes, why?'

"My nanomachines..."

"I have samples of human male blood on the TARDIS. One injection, and they should be destroyed — I have no interest in keeping the contract. Ah, and by the way, Natsuki, that reminds me! I 'd like you to come aboard."

"What?!" exclaimed Martha and Natsuki at once.

"I once made a mistake of leaving a damaged society behind, and it got even worse. A little incident on Satellite Five, around the 200th century, you haven't heard of it. Regardless, I don't want for it to happen again. I'll take you to the future, thirty years from now, so we can see if there's no major catastrophe or — "

He was interrupted by the sound of... a TARDIS arriving. The Doctor, Martha and Natsuki looked down; way below, they saw as a second TARDIS appeared, left a second Natsuki behind, and vanished again.

"See? That's you," grinned the Doctor. "Back from the future."

"Now you have intrigued me, Doctor. What if I refuse? Then I won't be there, will I?"

"But you aren't going to, are you?"

"No."

"Then there's nothing to speak about." He stepped through the open doors. "Welcome to the TARDIS, Natsuki Kruger — and to the future of planet Earl!"

As the TARDIS dematerialised, the other Natsuki below unwrapped the piece of paper she has been holding. It was a photo — of herself, aged but still recognizable, smiling in front of a wall with a logo painted on it. The logo contained the stylized letters "ØSDF" and a motto below them written in the shape of a quarter-circle:

_The Guiding Star is in its heaven._ _All's right with the world._

_THE END_


	6. Behind the Scenes

**BEHIND THE SCENES**

**SPOILER WARNING!**

**If you intend to finish reading the story proper, do _not_ read these notes until then.**

As I said before, I'm going to write all my Mai-HiME/Otome stories in a single consistent universe — at least that's how I view them myself. You, as the reader, can disagree. If, for instance, the idea that the events of Mai-HiME, or my other story "Mai HiME Ryou", happened in this universe doesn't sit well with you, you can just dismiss all the references.

The idea for this story (which takes place between "Evolution of the Daleks" and "The Lazarus Experiment") came to me after I realized how some episodes of the third season of Doctor Who were returning to the first season themes on a new level. For instance, "Smith and Jones" was "Rose" written with the 42-minute format in mind, rather than shoehorned into it. "The Shakespeare Code" was "The Unquiet Dead" done right. When I began this story, I wanted it to be readable as a Doctor Who story in its own right, even to those unfamiliar with Mai-Otome.

The Mai-Otome setting was a good background for rehashing the idea of an organization sealing technology for itself, which first appeared in "Dalek" and was later developed in the Torchwood-related episodes "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday". Natsuki is no Henry van Statten, but definitely has Yvonne Hartman vibes, even treating the Doctor and the TARDIS similarly to her (I didn't intend it, but I think I was subconsciously influenced by those episodes).

I wanted to combine that with the idea that information monopolies are dangerous and cause social stagnation, as it was the case in "The Long Game". This is _definitely_ the case in Mai-Otome; having sealed the knowledge of Earth technology and past history, Garderobe caused the society to regress to stop at the late 20th century technological level. When I write about the founding of Garderobe, I'll provide a rational explanation for such behavior (which, really, follows from Mai-Otome itself); for now, the basic idea is that the restrictions placed on the Otome and the technical details left their ability to defend themselves crippled, in both the "contract" sense and the "defective nanomachines" sense, which is exploited in Mai-Otome itself and in this story on basically every step — and the Doctor is opposed to it.

I tried to convey the message that "information should be free" as blatantly as I could. We can see this war being fought in the modern society, as in free software (open source) against proprietary software — but that's just one front of many, as are pro-DRM versus anti-DRM debates. (The Otome contracts are very much like DRM, aren't they? There's no real reason that deaths should be synchronized; this crippled behavior is just _enforced_ by the devices for political, rather than technical reasons.) One of the arguments for free software is that errors are easier to find and fix when everyone can study the system; by keeping the nanomachines away from the public, Garderobe effectively ruled out the possibility that their defect could ever be fixed except by Garderobe itself, and they have demonstrated their inability to do so. Another argument is that it facilitates sharing and better customization, which is the key to the resolution of the central conflict of this story, a fight over a scarce resource.

I've always planned that the villains (it's just not Doctor Who without aliens!) would be the Obsidian Prince's species, and I've had a sketchy backstory for the HiME Star in mind, but everything else I more or less made up on the fly. Today's Doctor Who villains need a motivation. I struggled to find one, besides the desire to control the world, and the idea that it would be the Administar only struck me after I finished the first two chapters.

A rough outline of the backstory goes like this: the Kokuyouseki (a rather stupid name, admittedly) were once a thriving, galaxy-spanning civilization, viewing Earth as an insignificant world with a primitive culture, whose only value was in entertainment (hence the HiME Carnival). By the time of Mai-HiME, their empire was long gone, but the overseer of Earth (the Obsidian Prince) continued to influence the world through the HiME Star all the way until it was destroyed by Mai and company. The Administar was grown over centuries, using its natural ability to regenerate, from one of the shards of the original HiME Star; the name "Guiding Star" is used by the Kokuyouseki to refer to both, as they consider them the same entity, but they are unaware of the human modifications made to the Administar.

There'll be more details revealed. And yes, Searrs were involved, as my other story tells.

One more issue I wanted to address was the issue of character deaths. I needed someone's death to propel the story (and to explain where Martha would get a GEM from), and Akane was a natural choice. Her story was planned to go like that from the beginning, as _yet another_ tale of the traumatizing side-effects of being an Otome, told with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It was played for laughs in Otome and _especially_ Zwei, but here, I think I brought Akane and Kazuya's uneasy relationship to a logical conclusion — not the most preferable one, perhaps, but certainly one that makes sense.

As for the other three... The way I see it, MINO (Mai In Name Only) simply _had_ to die if the Otome system was indeed supposed to be completely screwed up, since she basically has no rules to abide. Here, it's used as a plot device, an opportunity for the Doctor to witness the horrid implications of an Otome contract. Mikoto was just a poor victim of a contract — I genuinly feel sorry for her, and there's_ even more _reason to feel sorry for her when you consider that here, she's the same Mikoto from Mai-HiME, who spent 300 years in stasis, then was used by Searrs for their experiments as a prototype for the Otome, and then spent _another_ 300 years in solitude...

Shizuru died simply because I was out to get ShizNat fans. Yes, I hate 'shipping, and I'm bent on ruining official couples — why do you ask? Note that Natsuki survives. That's because I have plans for her...

Finally, if the whole "Martha gets nanomachines" chain of events strikes you as too convenient, I admit, it _is_ stretched. She used the psychic paper a lot to get to Garderobe, but it just happened that there was another test subject, whom she was mistaken for... And hey, I don't rule out the possibility that the Doctor _didn't_ destroy Martha's nanomachines — maybe she kept them for the rest of season 3, from "The Lazarus Experiment" onwards!

* * *

**TRIVIA**

Yes, the Doctor was reciting the events of **"The Christmas Invasion"**. He was using one of his favorite tactics: talking the enemies into confusion and underestimating him (since he knew they would disregard his stories as complete nonsense anyway). He would probably get away if not for the Otome's intervention...

Apart from that episode, there's also a reference to **"Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks"** (the immediately chronologically predecing story), to **"Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel"**, **"The Long Game" **(so nice, I referenced it twice), and subtle foreshadowing of **"42"**. Those should be relatively easy to find. Here's one not-so-obvious moment: the part where the soldiers all get up and aim at the Doctor was lifted straight out of **"Aliens of London"**.

One of the readers wondered where **"Four-Dot Ellipsis"** came from. It's a fellow Wookieepedia user ("Thefourdotelipsis", actually). He complained that his nickname choice means that tuckerization would forever elude him in Star Wars canon... so I jokingly promised I'd insert his nickname into one of my fanfics. I did.

The **"renegade Time Lord"** the Doctor referred to was Nagi (Homura, not Dai Artai). Why didn't he regenerate when Miyu beheaded him? I provide no definite answer. Maybe he ran out of regenerations (if every previous HiME carnival had someone as aggressive as Natsuki (again, Kuga, not Kruger...), he'd probably end up spending a lot of them), or maybe Time Lords can't regenerate after decapitation. Or maybe the Doctor was mistaken and Nagi wasn't a Time Lord.

There are some references to **Shin Seiki Evangelion** — in particular, when the Doctor refers to Hideaki Anno and casually mentions meeting him, as he tends to do. The **"Voice Only" **thing was inspired by the SEELE briefing room.

And of course, that one nod to **Stargate SG-1**. Just mentioning it for the sake of completeness.

The final scene is my take on a particular scenario left mostly untouched in the series — what if the Doctor demonstrates the TARDIS's ability to travel through time by making it **arrive before it leaves**? Here, no paradox is created because nothing of significance happens as a result. For the record, I think it was possible for Natsuki, with her free will, to actually turn down the Doctor's offer and not enter the TARDIS, but I don't know what would have happened then. It's a timey-wimey ball, full stop.

**ØSDF**stands for "Ørl Steibl Development Faundeishn". Sic. I'm not making this up. There'll be more to it in a future story. For now, I'll only say that the Otome didn't disappear anywhere — they still exist, and so does Garderobe as a political entity, even though the building is gone.

* * *

And finally, if you have to say something — _anything_ — about this story, feel free to post a review. 


End file.
